Bulgarian Community

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (15:22): Last Sunday, along with several others from this chamber, I was fortunate enough to attend an event at the Bulgarian Hall on Tapleys Hill Road. This event is the annual celebration and commemoration of the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet by St Cyril and St Methodius in the ninth century.

We were treated to many wonderful and excellent speeches and, in particular, a most interesting speech by our Speaker, who outlined the work of the saints, what it has meant to the Bulgarians and, indeed, to other Slav nations. But I digress—this is not a grievance about our Speaker's amazing knowledge in matters such as this. Today, I grieve about the Bulgarian community of South Australia and, in particular, the positive influence this outstanding ethnic community has had in the western suburbs.

As I understand it, the history of Bulgarian migration to South Australia commenced in 1928 when a contingent of Bulgarian immigrants arrived in Australia. This group was all male and their objective was to earn good money and after several years return home. Global events thwarted this objective and, thankfully, South Australia, and particularly my electorate, became the beneficiary.

Unable to return home, these hardworking men, when economic conditions improved, purchased land in and around Fulham and Fulham Gardens at reasonable prices, made this land suitable for agricultural purposes—and everyone would remember the outstanding market gardens that existed throughout that area—and arranged for their families to come to South Australia. Hence, the second wave of Bulgarian migration commenced and continued until the last great wave that occurred after 1990, following the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

With this brief potted history of Bulgarian immigration, I will briefly speak about other related matters. Amongst the many great achievements of the Bulgarian community perhaps the most important was the establishment of the Bulgarian Education and Friendly Society Inc. The origins of this society date back to May 1949—an interesting date, given that the 24 May is the date of the celebration of the Cyrillic alphabet. The society gave great purpose to and for the Bulgarian community, and what exists on the site of the Bulgarian Hall on Tapleys Hill Road today also includes the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Bulgarian language school.

The society's actions over the years and what it has achieved are testimony to the perseverance, commitment and vision of our Bulgarian community and this community's desire to ensure that their rich cultural heritage is not lost. It is safe to say that those of Bulgarian heritage are a very important part of what it is that makes South Australia such a great multicultural state. To this end, in relation to ensuring that the cultural heritage is not lost, and confirmed by Sunday's celebration, this has been a successful pursuit.

This does not mean that their future is not without challenges. At a personal level, and having lived in the western suburbs at Henley Beach and attending Henley High, it is safe to say that you could not not have known a Genoff, a Kopcheff, a Marinoff, a Mancheff, a Spirdonoff, a Vasileff, a Stoyanoff, a Popov, a Petrov, a Lazaroff or any number of members of the many wonderful Bulgarian families who lived and continue to live in our area.

My father was of Romanian descent. Romania, of course, as you would know, is just across the river and forms the northern border with Bulgaria to the south of Romania. My mother used to say to me, 'Paul, the Bulgarians were very good to us when daddy and I first got married.' I can say that the Bulgarians have been very good to me. I would like to think that as the local member I have been good for the Bulgarians, but the Bulgarians have been good for our broader community as well.

Back to last Sunday, I thank the society president, Ivan Nevov, and vice president, Ian Stefanoff, their executive and the members of the society for their kind hospitality. I very much enjoyed the dancing and the other performances of the Bulgarian language school students. To finish off, it is the objective of the Bulgarian Educational Friendly Society to run a cultural event, a festival, in February 2018 to highlight aspects of Bulgarian culture, to re-engage with the third and fourth generations of Australians from a Bulgarian background and, indeed, to spread that culture throughout our broader community. They expect to get a thousand people there.

I will continue to work with the society to make sure that we, as a government, with the support of the opposition, provide the necessary support to the society to ensure that this festival is a success.